Don't Speak
by nerdangels
Summary: The idea of Tatia being with anyone other than himself—his own brother, especially- made his hands shake in a nearly blinding jealousy that he had to swallow in a ball of razor blades and shards of glass. What he wanted was for Tatia to his just as much as he was hers—completely and unconditionally. ONE-SHOT. Klaus/Tatia.


The caves had always been a special place for Niklaus Mikaelson. They were like his playground when he was a child, a place he could flee the wrath of his father and the disapproving stares of his mother; things he tried back breakingly hard to get rid of day in and day out, Things that no matter what he did to gain their approval, he seemed to be falling just short. There was no way that Niklaus could live up to the expectations of them, not when he was constantly in the shadows of Finn and Elijah, and not when the younger children needed them more. Nik was awkwardly placed in the middle of the bunch where he was constantly slipping through the cracks and going unnoticed by his parents until he made a mistake or did something wrong and then it felt as if he couldn't escape them and their anger quickly enough. His days had become cold and long and he was almost always found himself longing to be hidden away in the depths of the tunnels beneath the village.

But then _she_ came into town and everything changed.

Tatia Petrova was no good for them, their mother had said. She was tainted and damaged and a pariah to the rest of the village the moment she showed up the mother of a fatherless child. Not to Nik though. No, to him she was beautiful. She was a tiny glimmer of hope shinning in an otherwise dark and dusty world.

She had been shy and quiet and it felt like every time he took one step forward she would take one backwards, as if she was afraid of letting him get anywhere near her—as he would later find out, she was. Niklaus was painfully aware of the fact that he wasn't the only one to notice her. He was also aware of the fact that she didn't seem to respond well to any of the either advances either, which he took a smug comfort in. Tatia would at least meet his eyes and sometimes even smile, which was more than most of the other men could say. He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment that things had changed and the caves had stoped becoming a place for him to hide in fear and shame and instead became a place for the two of them to just simply be. The first time he had taken her there her face had been stained with tear streaks due to the harsh whispers of foul names and shameful rumours that buzzed around her on a constant basis. From that day on Niklaus was no longer down in the tunnels hiding alone, but instead he was there with her and the two were putting bandages on old wounds and healing scars that others had caused in a mix of soft whispers and stolen kisses.

—

Her hair was framing her face in small chestnut coloured strands while the rest of it sprawled out in a mess of a halo. Her chest was rising and falling at a steady pace in time with the shallow breaths that filled his ears. He reached a hand up and gently cupped the side of her face, his hand hardly even making contact with the skin in fear of waking her up. He could feel the warmth radiating off of her though and it seemed to seep in through his palm so that he too could feel it. As if by touching her maybe he could become even gain a fraction it himself. That was impossible though. Especially now that he had Henrik's blood on his hands—something that only Tatia seemed to be able to forgive him of, which was how he seemed to find himself wrapped up in her on an almost nightly basis. They were a safe haven from the nightmares of his little brothers face and voice that plagued him nearly every time he closed his eyes. Not with her though, with her things were peaceful.

The moment was potent and pure and he was afraid that if he even breathed too loudly something would break and everything would be snatched away from him. For a moment his mind entertained a curiosity that he tried his best to avoid. He wondered if Tatia had ever been like this with Elijah—this pure and innocent and vulnerable. He wondered if she curled into his body the same way she did his. If her body hummed with emotion like this when it was Elijah's finger tips caressing the soft skin or if maybe those things were all reserved just for him. He tried not to dwell on the idea too much. The idea of Tatia being with anyone other than himself—his own brother, especially- made his hands shake in a nearly blinding jealousy that he had to swallow in a ball of razor blades and shards of glass. What he wanted was for Tatia to his just as much as he was hers—completely and unconditionally.

He knew the odds of that were not in his favour though. Not while they were still living where they were, not with Esther and Elijah both acting as a driving force to wedge the two of them apart.

Niklaus blinked a few times, his head tilting to the side before leaning down and pressing a soft, impulsive kiss to her forehead. A hum of approval slipped passed her lips and he realized that she had awoken under his touch. The sweet smile pulling at her lips made his own turn up in a mirror image of it and he felt any anxiety or jealousy fade away and be replaced with warmth.

"Morning, love." He had barley even whispered it but he knew that she had heard it.

She looked up at him through her lashes and immediately he had made up his mind. The two had discussed the idea before but in all honesty nothing had even been concrete. Niklaus had never considered it a real possibility but now, with everything closing in on them the way it was, he had made the choice.

"Leave with me." The words tumbled out before he could stop them, fingers threading through hers easily as he stared at her with wide eyes. His eyebrows pulled together as she shot him a look of doubt and he immediately knew what she was thinking. Tatia could leave with no regrets. She didn't have anything in the village. There was no one relying on her and waiting for her to return home, she was alone. Niklaus though—he had a family. He had his brothers and his baby sister and mother and father. But for her, Niklaus had no doubts that he could do it. He could easily throw caution to the wind and leave the village and all its people behind just as long as she was by his side. Another pleading look was thrown in her direction accompanied with a murmured out 'please.' The flicker of doubt disappeared and the word 'yes' had never sounded as good as it did in that moment, though she had hardly even finished saying it before his own lips were pressed firmly against hers.


End file.
